We were remarkably fortunate in our first president. George Washington was extremely conscious of his role in setting a standard for the office of the President of the United States. In his fifth Annual Message to Congress, he sent a message down through the years to future presidents:

“The United States ought not to indulge a persuasion that contrary to the order of human events, they will forever keep at a distance those painful appeals to arms with which the history of every other nation abounds. There is a rank due to the United States among nations which will be withheld, if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness. If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it, if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known that we are at all times ready for war. The documents which will be presented to you will shew the amount and kinds of arms and military stores now in our magazines and arsenals, and yet an addition even to these supplies can not with prudence be neglected, as it would leave nothing to the uncertainly of procuring warlike apparatus in the moment of public danger.”

In a message directed specifically to the House of Representatives, he said:

No pecuniary consideration is more urgent than the regular redemption and discharge of the public debt. On none can delay be more injurious or an economy of time more valuable.

Who would ever have thought such advice inappropriate or even unusual? Of course it’s not. But the current president, to our surprise, wants to “fundamentally transform” the country, and has set about doing so—often by ignoring custom and law. He started off with the automobile industry crisis. We have successful bankruptcy laws devised to help a corporation to reorganize and emerge with an opportunity to again strive for success. They have worked for many years and many businesses.

Obama decided to ignore bankruptcy laws, fired the CEOs, put his own man in charge, ignored bond-holders first claim on assets in direct defiance of law, shut down auto dealers who operated private businesses whose only connection to the industry was that they purchased the cars they sold from the car companies. A president doesn’t get to shut down private business. “Cash for Clunkers” was a stupid misstep, that accomplished nothing and devastated the used car market across the country, and the used car-parts business, harming all the citizens who depend on buying used cars for their transportation. Then to top it all off, he gave Chrysler to Fiat, and a third of GM to the Unions— because he likes unions. And we sat back and did nothing.

At the time Democrats controlled both houses of Congress, so there was nothing to be done. But discovering that he could ignore law and custom with impunity, Obama has felt no obligation to the Constitution or laws of the country, and does as he pleases. As one New York Times reporter said “This is the most closed, control-freak administration I have ever covered.”

People are afraid of this administration, with some cause. Public disagreement can lead to an IRS audit, donations to opponents can get your business investigated and prosecuted for irregularities with some obscure regulation. An elderly couple have just been thrown out of their home near Lake Mead because the road leading to their home is on federal property.

ObamaCare is the law, but no Congress is bound by the acts of a previous Congress, and ObamaCare can be repealed or amended by future Congresses. The president cannot change it by executive order nor by offering waivers and delays to favored parties, as he is doing.

Obama administration officials have told universities to ignore the Supreme Court 8-1 decision that racial preferences cannot be used to achieve “diversity” on campus. Obama changed the Welfare Law provisions that required welfare recipients to work. He bypassed Congress to give immunity from deportation to young illegals and essentially enacted by executive action the “Dream Act” that Congress refused to pass. Obama also decided that his administration would not enforce the Defense of Marriage Act. The list of usurpations of the federal law and the Constitution goes on and on. Since Obama cannot be impeached as long as he controls the Senate, he feels no restraint on his ability to “go around Congress” and do as he pleases.

The Senate, at the behest of the White House, is now working on a bill to allow the president to raise the debt ceiling on his own—granting powers to the president that are specifically reserved to the House of Representatives by the Constitution. This is not a small matter. This is a Republic, not an Autocracy. We don’t go for dictators here.

Obama’s major problem has always been hubris. He is never at fault, he can never be blamed, he is never wrong, no one should disagree with him, and what he wants to do should be done, because he is the most important man in the world as President of the United States.

Americans have been restrained by their deep respect for the office of the presidency — as our first president passed it down to us. But there are limits to our restraint. We are Americans and Liberty is our birthright. We crossed three thousand miles of ocean to get to a “howling wilderness” and declared war on the world’s most powerful nation to secure our liberty. Britain had virtually unlimited resources and the best navy in the world and we were virtually broke, and we had to scratch together militias and farmers and riflemen, and scratch together some means for paying for a war. But there’s a stubborn streak in the American character too. We won by not losing.

I don’t think this “fundamental transformation” thing is going to fly. Not Here. Not Now.

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What was so broken that people needed to elect this fundamental transformer? He indulges in a childish fancy that he so understands complexity he can easily propose various ‘comprehensive’ reforms and magically tame it all for the ‘folks’. People love it and believe! They cheer our constitutional scholar whose clear objective is fiat and a forced dependence on a growing, enriched coddled political / media class. At last comes the bread from O’s circus via healthcare.gov and it is stale! The credulous masses will be bewildered but I submit it will be explained that it is the well intended emperor betrayed by ignominious plutocrats who have managed to sour this voted for (it’s the law!) bread. Obama is still expert at beguiling the capricious mob. I hope this will change.